‘Strong growth in data and transparency is anticipated in Africa’

Created: Tuesday, 31 July 2018 06:23

Strong Growth in data and transparency is projected in Africa. (Image source: API Summit & Expo)London-based, Jeremy Kelly, of JLL, will present the African Chapter of their market leading Global Real Estate and Transparency Index (GRETI) to 600 of the continent's leading real estate developers and investors during the ninth annual API Summit & Expo, taking place in Johannesburg from 20-21 September 2018

Recognised as a global thought leader and advocate for transparency and data across global real estate markets, Kelly will lead the conversation on the importance of data and transparency which are vital in establishing market health and making better decisions.

“Our aim at the summit will be to draw attention to the importance of real estate transparency, not only in boosting investment, but also enhancing business efficiencies, raising living standards and safeguarding the environment,” said Kelly.

By drawing on specific regional and global parallels, Kelly will provide a unique perspective and context on how African markets can move up the "transparency spectrum" to the continent's decision makers.

While African countries upward movement in GRETI in 2014 and 2016 were notable - these were mostly off of a low base, Kelly added.

However, despite this incremental movement up the transparency ladder by the continent's markets, the most encouraging aspect of this year's report for Kelly is the greater volume and quality of data collected by African firms such as Sagaci Research and Estate intel.

“Overall, we continue to see advances made in areas such as the quality and frequency of valuations across many markets in sub-Saharan Africa, while market data availability has also continued to improve for select countries and sectors (such as logistics and hotels).”

Data according to Kenya-based, Charles Ballard, of Sagaci Research, is one of the firms credited for developing greater actionable insight into African growing retail sector is that data is “limited and or obsolete.”

The challenge, he explains is that Africa's youthful population, informality and rapid growth makes measurement challenging to measure but "particularly dynamic."

Adding that these developments make it even more critical for data to be up to date and transparent in Africa and not “inconsistent and fragmented,” which is one of the primary challenges encountered by Dolapo Omdire of Nigeria's Estate intel.

To mitigate these challenges and use advances in Proptech and relevant data, Omdire will use the API Summit to gain insights and launch Estate intel's new data app.

“Africa has an opportunity at this point to utilise blockchain for land registries or transactions; ‘smart’ buildings and infrastructure for facilities management or repair; or new database capabilities for collaborative data sharing between market participants – to jumpstart the traditional methods of improving market data and building real estate markets that are fit for the future.”

According to the host of the ninth API Summit & Expo, Kfir Rusin, “Increasing data flow and transparency are absolutely pivotal to the development and deepening of investment in the continent's property markets.”